


Don't Wanna Cry

by AGhostInYourEyes



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bookworm Jeon Wonwoo, Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Healing, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jeon Wonwoo is a barista, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Sad with a Happy Ending, Shy Jeon Wonwoo, oh my god he's back, tough on the outside and still broken on the inside
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-04 20:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15848952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGhostInYourEyes/pseuds/AGhostInYourEyes
Summary: A girl on the hunt for a mysterious author with the unlikely barista.





	1. Prologue

"Promise me something?"  
"Anything."  
"When you no longer love me, tell me."


	2. Intro. New World

The good thing about jet lag is the ability to stay up when you're in the wrong time zone. Right about now, I'd be waiting for the dulling sensations of the sleeping pills to kick in while I scroll aimlessly through social media for the person I won't find. Oh, and my playlist would make a nice addition to the late night. Instead, I'm in Korea with my two best friends with more hours to naturally exhaust ourselves until at least dusk.

When we stepped foot outside the taxi that dropped us off at the place we'd be living for the next month and a half, it was broad daylight and the girls and I thanked our lucky stars for being smart enough to wear shorts. The sun, my Lord, was hotter than any California summer day, and three pairs of sleepy eyes hiding behind prescription sunglasses were peering nervously at their surroundings. The bellhop greeted us right away and goodness was he the cutest thing I've ever seen.

"Wel-come to-dah hwan-yeonghabnida (Welcome home 환영합니다) hotel...pease enjoy your stay."

"Thank you...Boo?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Boo Seungkwan at your service. Seungkwan is l-leetle hard to say, so Boo, please. Check in is-" he pointed to straight ahead. "Righ dere. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks. You too. I mean, uhh-" Way to go Erin! Talk about an awkward beginning. She playfully shoved my shoulder when she heard the snicker that not so subtly escaped. We thanked the bellhop once again whose only response was an eager wave.

"Shut up; it's late," she mumbled letting a yawn escape her. "I'm not used to staying up, much less being in a new place with a 16 hour time difference. Cut me some slack."

"Ahh, my cranky morning bird, remind me to buy you caffeinated beverages so you can stay up and fall asleep later," Haley piped in before making a face at the lines for coffee (which were pretty big). "For the first time, I'm alive."

And right she was. To pause everyday life for awhile while catching up with the most important people in person and not a computer screen, was truly a blessing. No school alarms, spiteful time zones, work hours or any otherwise outside drama would change this vacation. Just three friends learning a new culture and having the one thing we haven't had since becoming adults: fun.

It felt like we were making our grand entrance; albeit the sight in front of us was a bit overwhelming and slightly intimidating. The lobby, grandiose in structure, emitted posh vibes and wealthy visitors who could pay their stay without so much as a second glance at their bank accounts....obviously not a place for three girls in their early 20s. (but we mustn't break that fourth wall.)The chandelier right smack in the middle of the ceiling illuminated the room, making its appearance much bigger and more welcoming (although that could've been the hot rays of the sun mixed with the air conditioning). The furniture? A marvel with its color and the texture of it? More than inviting. It was, in short, the dream of every interior designer who had that taste for the finer things in life and the envy of those who hadn't thought of putting it together sooner. 'Twas like something out of a movie.

After gawking, our tired senses snapped back to our present situation and made our way to the check-in. But now for the hard part. Which of these was the guy I spoke to on the phone when I made those reservations? And why were they so young looking? Both of them had acknowledged us but were on the phone so they each put their finger up to signal there'd be done soon. One of them even smiled and good God, I'm pretty sure the sun followed us inside at that moment.

I nodded, a polite smile creeping on my face, because hey, at least they weren't rude about it. There was also a little blush sneaking up on my cheeks because of how...handsome he was, well the both of them. Sneaking peeks at the girls on either side of me, I know they must've been thinking the same.

"Yeoboseyo. gidaligehaeseo mianhabnida." (Hello. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. 여보세요. 기다리게해서 미안합니다)Mr. Sunshine Smile greets us warmly bowing slightly. "naega neoleul eotteohge doul su issni?" (How can I help you? 내가 너를 어떻게 도울 수 있니?)

"Uhh...Erin, that's all you!" Quickly, I push the tall one between Haley and myself since she's the most experienced Korean speaker of this trio. Granted, we were still learning, but she's had more practice. Therefore, I have more faith in her abilities than in mine.

Her eyes widened once she processed the situation because she was quite flustered with the way Mr. Sunshine Smile (although his name tag read Lee Seokmin) looked at us both patiently and amused...was this really the affect he had on people? My goodness it's getting warmer now. "Uh-I uh, hold on one second." Yes Erin, he can understand you perfectly...and I really shouldn't say anything since she's the one doing the talking. "Wait, what do I even ask him?"

"Ask him if he's Joshua Hong...he was the one I spoke on the phone with all this."

"Gotcha." She braced herself to speak to the gentleman helping us out. "dangsin-eun hong seonsaengnim-ingayo?" (Are you Mr. Hong? 당신은 홍 선생님인가요?)

He let out a little giggle and spoke some more and dashed into the little office behind them which left me to finish my shameless staring of the eighth wonder. Despite the hustle and bustle of the place, the front desk seemed to be empty and it seemed rather fortunate for the other front desk clerk. As soon as he hung up his call, he went straight for the clipboard in front of him and dialled a number with a small smile of politeness at us, only to start trilling away at whoever was on the other end of the line. The hotel's restaurant seemed a little busy for the lunch rush from what I could see. (The waiters were actually coming out to serve those who decided on dining in the lobby.) There were children running and racing about, business partners focusing on the papers and iPads in front of them, and passerby quickly serving themselves the complimentary coffee, well those who didn't run out of patience at least. There was little room for quiet.

"That's not Korean."

"Hmm?"

"That's not Korean," Erin repeated to Haley, her voice a little lower.

"How do you know?"

"I studied the alphabet and the characters don't look like that. I think it's Chinese."

"Ohh gotcha. Is he talking Korean though?"

Silence for a moment. "For the most part, but he switches about halfway. Again, could be Chinese, but I'm not too sure."

"Right you are," a beautiful English speaking voice affirms. "Good eyes and ears." And just like that, whoever it was had our attention. Mr. Sunshine Smile had returned with the presumable man in question and thanked him in Korean before turning to us. "Good afternoon ladies. My name is Joshua Hong. What can I do for you this fine day?" He smiled so brightly, I think I fell in love.

"Bea, back at you babe," Erin nudged me.

"Um hello. We're here to uh check in."

"Of course. First and last name and any form of identification please. Perfect, thank you. Excuse me. Jun?" The boy on the phone looked over in his direction. "Jeomsim meog-euleo gala." (Go to lunch. 점심 먹으러 가라) Soon as he got waved off, he turned back to us. "So sorry...What brings you ladies overseas?" He asked conversationally while putting in information in. He hummed in approval and I took that as a sign that there were no problems with the reservation.

"Vacation."

"Wonderful. Any particular places you might have seen?"

"Not really," I admitted. "Seoul just seemed like the perfect place. It's far enough to get away from everything you know, but still enough to not actually fall off the face of the earth."

He nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. I miss America sometimes for that, but here is home now. How many keys will you be needing?"

"Three's fine, thank you. Wait, so you're not from here?"

"I'm a born and raised LA boy." There's a nostalgic glimmer in his eyes. "My parents thought it was time to come home and I couldn't bear to stay behind without them. I can't complain though. Okay, so here are your keys. The bar and restaurant are surprisingly open at all hours so you're more than welcome to join in whenever you'd like or if you'd like it delivered to your room, that's fine too. If you decide to take a tour around this lovely town, please feel free to give me a call and I'll be more than happy to recommend some of the best places Seoul has to offer and set up a time when the buses leave. Any questions?"

Yeah, are you single? "Um, no. I think we're good."

"Okay, well you're all set. Enjoy your stay, and I hope to see you around. And WiFi password will be written in the hotel's notepad.."

"Thank you Mr. Hong."

He smiled a rather infuriatingly bright smile. "Please, call me Josh or Joshua."  
—————————————————————————————————————————————  
What's a child biggest wish when they're younger besides ice cream for dinner? Sleepovers with their best friends and hoping the night never ends. That's exactly how it felt when we opened the room to our suite (and it was just as beautiful as the lobby.) If it didn't hit us when we left LAX, surely it had to now. Everything in our savings account had led up to where we are now. (Haley gave up TØP for this and Erin sacrificed a North Carolina trip, and well let's just say, I won't be asking for time off getting home.) I don't know if my body's still on the California time zone or what, but I felt emotional. I could hear Erin and Haley fighting over who'd take which bed as well as the drawers they'd have to put their clothes in. Let's just hope we get accustomed to this quickly.

"Y'all, no sleeping right now. We don't need to be up at three in the morning just because we decided to nap now." Mild groans of "I know," followed. "Whattaya guys wanna do to kill time?" Silence. "Don't leave this up to me. I think a quick snack would be good, don't you think?" I fell back on the sofa bed and closed my eyes without waiting on the answer. Maybe a nap- Without warning, I was bombarded by the two giggling and laughing girls which immediately woke me up.

"Let's just take a moment to relax and breathe and wrap our heads around the fact we're not actually at home, because holy shit, this is real."

"Exactly. For now, let's just be basic and take a selfie to boast on social media," Haley suggested. "Hashtag a whole new world."

I threw a pillow at her. "I will rethink this friendship if you say hashtag one more time. But why not?" Three cell phones out, several attempts later and finally the posts were up. "Are we all unpacked? Are you hungry? What do we do? I think if we eat something now, it'll help us stay up and-"

"Bea's hungry so let's go back down to the restaurant!" I mean I would've protested but my stomach growled at that moment which emitted a few more giggles. A few minutes after I found my glasses, we found ourselves at the lobby's restaurant and at our orders was -surprise surprise- yet another good looking employee by the name of Chan...Lee Chan to be exact. But he was cute in the sense of you wanna adopt him, well at least in my case.

"Bruh, what is it with all the cute boys here?" Haley asked, watching him walk away with our orders. "Or is that just me?"

Erin raised her glass of lemonade in agreement. "Nah, I'm with you. I'm still trying to calm down my heart from the guy at the front desk."

"Which one?"

"All of them."

"I saw you checking out Mr. Sunshine Smile."

"Mr. Sunshine Smile?"

"The dude that brought Joshua Hong over? Mole on his face? Big smile, like huge? You were flirting with him."

"I WAS NOT." Eyes widened, jaw dropped and words lost was my dearest friend. "I was just asking him for help because you couldn't understand." She threw her straw wrapper at me. "Maybe next time I'll leave you to it."

"Rude, that wasn't part of the deal."

"Cute boys weren't part of the deal."

"Scary looking dude coming in," Haley interjected. She raised her glass to her lips and drank, subtly eyeing him. At that she had our attention.

To describe him besides (surprise, surprise) good looking? Three words. Tall. Easily beats our height. Also possibly Erin's but not by much. Intimidating. Like we all cowered instinctively when he passed our table. He seemed unstoppable. A stunning visual. The all black touch gave him a dangerous vibe. And lastly: Clumsy. He bumped into our waiter and ended spilling someone's drink and threw the first two adjectives out the window, especially when his first reaction was to clean the boy's clothes with a rag he pulled out from his pocket (why he'd have one is beyond me) and then proceeded to wipe the floor soon after. Then he almost slipped from a wet spot he missed. Poor dude, if I didn't relate to him, I would've laughed.

"Okay me," I sympathized as we watched him scurry away and re-emerge a couple minutes later. 

"Is it bad that made him more attractive than before?"

"Shit he's tall."

"Aww he's leaving already." Although he wasn't as threatening after that display, he was still kinda intimidating. We may or may not have flinched as he walked out. He stopped at the front desk, chatted with the three boys (which I might add the appearance in clothing had a stark contrast) at the front desk for awhile or so and left after hugging Boo.

"Goodbye Highlighter Head. If we ever see you again, I hope you have a better hair color."

"Haley!"

"I'm just saying whoever agreed to it did him dirty. Black hair would've suited him better, but I don't know."

"You right though."

"Guys, he was so attractive though? Did you see him? My god, I think I died."

I took a sip out of my soda. "Look at us, falling in love with the cute boys decorating the place. We haven't even been here an hour and we've been attacked. I can't wait to see what other surprises come our way." The girls raised their beverages in agreement.

"I'll drink to that."

"Same."

A few minutes later, our waiter came back with our light lunch and with a polite bow, shyly mumbled something that Erin translated as either "eat well" or "enjoy your meal" and I knew for a fact that he was getting a really good tip...well until I remembered that they're not big on tips here.

"Jal meokkgessseumnida (잘 먹겠습니다 I will eat well.)"  
—————————————————————————————————————————————  
A couple blocks or so past the hotel promised a lot of restaurants, gift shops, and general tourist traps that made me make a note to not go in there unless I wanted to go home more broke than I started. Haley and Erin were putting their knowledge to the test by challenging themselves to read the signs as well as asking each other to see if they'd gotten the words right, and by the pleased looks on their faces, they were more than happy that their self teaching was paying off.

"You'd think there'd be more coffee shops," Haley commented. "All these people and places, and all I've seen is one they completely ignore. Nope, never mind. Someone just went inside."

"You don't drink coffee though?"

"I know, but it's like they don't acknowledge it. Where's the respect man?"

"I think Haley's inner hipster is coming out."

"Look at the way the the neon lights come together. It's prettier than any city lights back home. And the way the sun is setting behind the buildings."

She was right. California sunsets turning the skies pink had nothing on dusk time in Korea. Then again, I may have been biased because I've seen plenty of them in sunny LA and even a couple in the girls' home state. It didn't make it any less beautiful, even though it didn't last longer than a few minutes. The streets that had been adorned with adults in business suits and kids with oversized backpacks earlier were replaced with teenagers and people our age getting ready to a night out. Uber drivers were dropping off their customers left and right; horns were honking in every corner. The little area seemed to even more alive, and it seemed we were more star struck than if we had met any childhood idols.

In spite of the vibe promising a good night, it was proving difficult to keep our eyes open. It was hard enough to stay awake through the early afternoon (even with all of the good looking guys we came across today), but it was nearing impossible to stay awake for awhile longer. As if reading my thoughts, Erin let out a yawn, followed by Haley and finally me. "How much longer do we have to stay up?" 

"I'm ready to quit, and sleep through this whole vacation."

"I guess we can go back and get ready for bed. Tomorrow we can explore some more and maybe actually see where the buses of Seoul lead us. Or maybe stay inside for some Netflix while our bodies adjust. Or whatever you guys want."

"For now, let's just go back to our room and get some rest, and see what tomorrow brings."

"Works for me,"Haley agreed. "I'm up past my usual late bedtime and I'm feeling the effects already."

"Okay then, let's go home, unwind and do whatever the hell we want until we pass out from exhaustion. Are you guys sure you got all the snacks you wanna eat?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're fine."

"Okay, okay. Let's go."

"Hey look, isn't that Joshua?" Erin pointed to a group of familiar looking boys and lo and behold, it was our front desk clerk along with a few faces from the same hotel we were residing. Small world. They looked like they were waiting in line to get into a bar and the line was bigger than I've ever seen.

"Would it be weird if we waved?" I asked.

"Uh yeah? Nope wait, he's waving at us. What do we do?"

"Smile and wave."

"Can he even see us smiling?"

"I think the real question is, how do we know he was smiling at us? We're all blind!"

"True. Also, the longer we stay out, the longer we're away from our comfortable beds."

We scuffled past them, mumbling a quick "good night", and resumed our casual walk back to the hotel. The dude at the door didn't look as friendly as the other one as he opened it and I was a bit intimidated by him. Even the clerks at the front desk looked done with their shift, but I couldn't blame them either. Upon getting to our room, the girls turned in for the night, not even bothering to stifle their yawns or the poor attempts of not dragging their feet.

"Good night guys."

"Good night."

I waited a bit longer since the nights seemed to love me. I scrolled through app after app seeing what the days events were happening on social media. Our individual posts had received the usual Have fun and be safe, along with the usual likers of those who lived on the site. It was foolish, or maybe it was wishful thinking, but I'd hoped to see one name. One name to acknowledge I was alive. But I knew better. Even typing in the name, I knew I'd get the answer. I was blocked on everything and I had no control over it.

With a final refresh (to no avail), I put the phone down to charge and closed my eyes. Here's to hoping for a peaceful sleep.


End file.
